He was referring to the commission's decision not to register the Human Dignity Trust as a charity. The trust supports those who seek to challenge legislation criminalising consensual sexual activity between same sex adults in certain foreign jurisdictions. The trust appealed our decision to the Charity Tribunal which has now ruled that it is a charity.

Robertson was wrong to suggest that our decision was based on flawed moral judgment. As the tribunal acknowledges in its decision, we rejected the charity's original application for reasons grounded in charity law, not moral judgment. We have always recognised the valuable work carried out by the Human Dignity Trust and the sympathy that work generates in many places.

However, as Robertson well knows, the commission's duty is to assess whether an organisation is charitable in law. We cannot make our decisions based on value judgments about the merits of an organisation's aims. We made our original decision on the basis of an interpretation of the law. We are glad that it is now clarified.William ShawcrossChairman, Charity Commission